Railing Codex

起初他们说我是伪装成鸟类的太阳，假借这迅速闪现和消失的飞行状物躯体，暗自向月亮示爱。阿兹特克人给我命名“Uitzilopochtli”， 维齐洛波奇特利，他们认为我是特斯卡特利波卡的一个面相，出生即着战装，这世间最强大的神灵，操弄人类命运的力量，主宰世间的无常，如同夜晚的风。事实上，我并无意主宰太阳和战争，神力赋予我这华美的羽毛，和向后飞行的禀赋，要我说，我不过是他们所说的那种——带翅膀的西西弗斯，终其一生都在无止尽地飞行，连悬停的时候也得不停拍打翅膀，每秒钟八十次，或者更多。是空气和风给我停驻的力量，而不是预言中那残暴与呼星唤月的本能。我的同类中有许多伟大的旅行者，以不可思议的疾速长途迁徙，或许因此人类把我们归入鸟纲Apodiformes，意为 "无脚"。夜以继日地穿梭于热带雨林沼泽沙漠灌木，于万物之间汲取甘露，我们没有目的地，这被认为是某种享乐主义，一些人类把我们的羽翼做成纹身，假装他们也甘愿命运这样。

At first, they said I was a sun disguised as a bird, secretly declaring my love to the moon in secret under the guise of the body of a flying object that may appear and disappear in a flash. The Aztecs called me “Uitzilopochili”—they believed I am one of the faces of Tezcatlipoca, the most powerful god who was born in combat uniform, the power that manipulates the fate of mankind and dominates the impermanence of the world like the wind at night. The fact is, I have no interest in ruling over the sun and the outcome of wars. The gods have given me these gorgeous feathers and the gift of flying backwards, but I am just who they say I am: Sisyphus with wings, doomed to be in flight my whole life, who must keep flapping my wings 80 times per second—or more—even while hovering. It is the air and the wind that grant me the power to stay, not the cruel instincts that could summon nature according to the prophecy. My kind birthed those great travelers that migrate long distances at incredible speeds. Perhaps that’s why humans have classified us as Apodiformes, the order of the “footless” bird. Back and forth, day and night, through tropical rainforests, marshes, deserts and shrublands, sipping nectar from all living things, we have no destination––this is considered a form of hedonism. Some humans tattoo our wings over their bodies, pretending they too would willingly embrace a fate like this one.